CIKOD, others implement project to improve water access

Lawra, (U/W), May 17, GNA – Feed Without Destroye (ANSD) and the Centre for Indigenous Knowledge and Organisational Development (CIKOD) are jointly implementing a project to improve access to water and sanitation facilities among selected communities in Eastern Burkina Faso and Northern Ghana.

The project, dubbed “Strengthening Resilience through Improving Access to Water in the Regions of Eastern Burkina Faso and Northern Ghana” will also help promote agro-ecological practices among smallholder farmers in the area.

The $1,400,000.00 project was developed by HELVETAS Swiss Inter-cooperation (HSI) with Groundswell International (GSI) acting as project implementing partner.

Mr. Mathias Jatoe, Agro-ecology/Ecological Water and Sanitation Hygiene (EcoWASH) Manager for CIKOD made this known at a Regional Workshop for Media on Agro-ecology and Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) held in Lawra in the Upper West Region.

He said the population of Eastern Burkina Faso and Northern Ghana was predominantly rural with 70 per cent of this population engaged in agriculture and livestock production.

Mr. Jatoe hinted that at some particular periods within a year, water resources were no longer sufficient to cover the different uses of water, whether for drinking or for production purposes.

He explained that women spend a lot of time at the water shore wasting productive hours, which contributed to the risk of food and nutrition insecurity.

The Agro-ecology/EcoWASH Manager noted that that a survey conducted in February 2015 by ACF Burkina Faso recorded 880 households in the province of Gnagna were in food crisis and needed emergency intervention to protect their livelihoods.

A World Food Programme (WFP) study in 2009, also revealed that out of Ghana’s 1.2 million food insecure people, 34 per cent lived in the Upper West region.

This, he said informed the implementation of the “Strengthening Resilience through Improving Access to Water in the Regions of Eastern Burkina Faso and Northern Ghana” with the overall objective of Contributing to improving food security and resilience in the areas by increasing the rate of water access.

Mr. Jatoe said that the project would see to the provision of 25 boreholes, 75 garden wells, Institutional latrines in schools, Hygiene equipment and Community as well as school gardens.

The project would also ensure the revitalisation of water users associations, strengthening women’s groups and associations including school stakeholders.

Equally, capacities of municipalities and districts would also be improved in the areas of WASH plans, accountability and provision of sustainable water and sanitation services among others.

In Burkina Faso, the project would cover 70 communities in across Bilanga, Thibga and Gayeri Communes (Districts) while in Ghana, 30 communities from the Lawra and Nandom Districts are also benefiting from the project.